Released on A Future Without 2010.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Studio Sessions, Styania Krakow

Blog update, Staynia studio Krakow

Wed 3rd

We went to the studio in the morning of the 3rd Feb. We booked it for 7 hours.

This is a short time to record 6 tracks, however we were practiced and felt ready and I have a lot of faith in the musicians. It took about 1 and ½ hours to set up the mics and have a sound check. The drums took the longest. It was quite a difficult set up because there was no overdubs to record, we recorded everything totally live therefore we needed instrument separation. This entailed the drums mic’ed up in one room with the keyboard player and his amp being shut in the kitchen, the sax/flute recorded in another small room, the guitar amp in the corridor and me playing guitar with the bassist in the control room (the bassist going straight into the desk).

Once we achieved this we started to record, it was difficult at first because we weren’t used to playing with out eye contact. After 3-4 takes we got used to it and relied on our musical intuition. We finally recorded the first track after 5 takes. The next tracks we recorded quite quickly taking about 2-3 times on average. We finished everything in about 6 hours. We used old fender twin amps for both guitar and fender rhodes. I wanted the sound to be as analogue as possible and not to rely on plug ins.

Thursday 11th Feb, Mix down

We returned to the studio to mix the tracks. The studio was quite busy therefore we were only able to book it for a few hours on the evening of the 11th. We only had time to mix two of the tracks; Smolensk samba and Moments. First we mixed Moments. This track is quite long with 4 sections, we needed each section to be slightly different in the dynamic range and for a build up at the end, it is a sonata. The middle of the song has a moog and rhodes solo, this is where it builds up, starting fragmented and quiet it eventually gets loud and frantic with the last section being played on the rhodes. There is a crescendo at the end with a drum solo and with the band playing on, the song ends with the B section. We added delay and a filter to the moog and mixed the instruments accordingly. Next was Smolensk samba, this song was quite short and relatively easy to mix, we just matched the rhythm guitar with the keyboard, boosted the drums and compressed the bass a touch. This was all we had time for.

We have to go back to the studio one day next month and finish the other 4 tracks. See you soon Giles

Moments, first mix by gilesbarratt

Here is the first mix of Moments which features on my forthcoming album.

Moments first mix mp3 by gilesbarratt

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Ulica Bossa by gilesbarratt

Ulica Bossa  by  gilesbarratt

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Rehearsals

The band is starting to think in unison now. I think I will be recording in Nov some time, not too sure when exactly don't want to rush them..

2009-09-29 15 26 by gilesbarratt

Thursday, October 8, 2009


I have written 12 tracks and will be recording 6 of them with my band next month. These tracks were mainly composed and conceived in and around Krakow. The compositions are my experiences from living in this city, i.e the daily sounds and sights. These tunes are my 'sound track' and they represent a different day, experience.I see my experiences like a film hence the name 'Kino orchestra' kino is the Polish for cinema . The compositions are my sonic representation(s) of my visual memories. They are rich in melodic 'sound track' ideas and are influenced by Jobim, Edu Lobo,Kzrysztofa Komeda, Sergio Mendes, Serge Gainsburgh,Lalo Shiffrin, Ennio Morricone, Luis Bacalov, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, Bernard Herman, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus etc..At the moment I am rehearsing them to get them ready and sweet. Once they are recorded I will contact 6 film makers to make 6 short films for each track then perform them live with the film. The films will be like a score for us to follow.

These latest pictures are our rehearsals and were shot by James Howard.

Does anyone know some good recording techniques for jazz production? I want them to sound old like 50's 60's records.

Once they are ready they will be released by A Future Without .

Next month I will be taking a guitar workshop....

Keep posted for information......

Last week I saw Stanko and band/orchestra play Krzysztofa Komeda's compositions about 5 mins from my house. This was an amazing free gig and have been thinking about this all week. I think it will influence how I want the recordings to sound. This band/orchestra were very subtle and blended in very well with each other, The band and orchestra were very good together.

The latest photos are from my last rehearsal, they were also shot by the very capable photographer James Howard. He has been very busy photographing bands that perform in Krakow. Anyway hope you like them


The band is sounding better and better thanks to the great musicians I am working with.

Here is a link to old concerts in Alchemia, Krakow




Check out my compositions in progress, they are starting to take some kind of shape now..

If you want to contact me please email me; gilesbarratt@hotmail.com